Walk Boldly With Jesus

Do You Have Questions Too?

Episode Summary

Romans 5:5 “And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” Today's episode tells us that it is ok if we don't understand everything. We can just bring it to the Lord and He will help us. It also shows us that we don't need to be disappointed because we have the Spirit of God living inside of us and that is all we will ever need. The episode reminds us how remarkable that is. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Episode Notes

Do You Have Questions Too?

Romans 5:5 “And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”

Hope in the Lord does not disappoint has been a verse I have had to come back to over and over again. It is one that honestly I don’t really understand. I mean, I know plenty of people who have hoped in the Lord that their loved ones would be healed on this side of heaven, and they weren’t. They were surely disappointed. I have known people who were praying to get a certain job and they didn’t. I am sure they were disappointed. What about those who really want to be married and haven’t met their spouse yet, or those who want children and yet can’t conceive? I am sure they are hoping in the Lord to answer those prayers, and it hasn’t happened yet, I am sure they feel disappointed.

I have discovered that the Holy Spirit has been asking me to go deeper when I read something I don’t understand, which is a lot. I will be reading a scripture and then a question will pop into my head. At first I thought it was the enemy trying to get me to doubt my faith, or doubt what the scripture says. However, upon more prayer I have come to believe that the Holy Spirit doesn’t want me to just question something and then move on without an answer. I think He is calling me to work with people who have left the faith, and left the Lord. He is calling me to work with those who have been hurt by religion and want nothing to do with it and so they also have given up on the Lord. Or, maybe they have just grown apart from Him, or never really knew they could have a relationship with Him.

I think the Lord is trying to show me that if I am asking these questions, so are they. The answers that I have always been given don’t do it for me anymore. The Lord is asking me to go deeper. He is asking me to truly understand who He is and why He does what He does. I mean, we will never understand most of what He does until we join Him in heaven, as our brains are so limited as to what we can actually understand and comprehend. However, I do feel He is telling me to go deeper when a question comes up, like the ones today, and ask Him to help me understand. You can do the same with your questions. You can bring them to the Lord, and He will answer them. Do you struggle to believe that? I know I do sometimes. I am hesitant to ask the Lord a direct question because I always think I won’t get an answer, and then I will feel rejected. However, He always answers. Maybe not right away, and maybe not how you thought He would. I have one friend who said she always asks God questions, and she hears nothing. Then, later in the week, as someone is talking to her, she realizes that is the answer to the question she asked God. Sometimes, she will get an answer through the scriptures that are read at mass. I have another friend who said she doesn’t receive a lot of answers during her prayer time, but then when she is in the shower is when her questions are answered. If you are asking the Lord questions and feel He is not answering you, I want to assure you that He definitely is. It just might be in a way you are not recognizing. Be on the lookout for it, be expecting an answer in unexpected ways, and you will find them

Back to today’s verse, “And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” I went back to read the verse before this because this verse starts with “this hope,” so I thought, what hope?  What does “this hope” mean? The verse before today’s verse says, “But that’s not all! Even in times of trouble we have a joyful confidence, knowing that our pressure will develop in us patient endurance. And patient endurance will refine our character, and proven character leads us back to hope. And this hope is not a disappointing fantasy because we can now experience the endless love of God cascading into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who lives in us!” That was the passion translation, so today’s verse sounds a bit different in that translation.

The hope we are talking about in this verse is one that we have earned. It is one that was hard fought. It is one that was forged out of the fires of difficult situations. It is a hope that we gain after we have developed patience and character. God never told us we wouldn’t have disappointments in life. He never promised us that our lives would be easy. He actually told us it would be hard. Yet He does promise that He will never leave us or forsake us. He will be there with us in our disappointing moments. Ones where we cry out to the Lord and ask why He is not answering our prayers, why He took our loved one from us, why He put these desires into our hearts and now is not bringing them to fruition.

I think we have all asked the Lord at least one of these questions, and I think we were probably justified in doing so. I don’t think God minds when we ask questions. I think He minds when we ask questions and then don’t wait to hear the answers or go elsewhere to seek the answers. How many times have we done that? We cried out to the Lord and then tried to fix it ourselves or looked for some earthly solution to try to fix it. God wants us to go to Him and then sit with Him and listen to what He has to say. He has the most simple answers to the most complicated questions if we allow Him to answer. He can turn things around in a moment, but often, we are too busy trying to do it ourselves to let Him fix it. We tire ourselves out trying one thing after another, and I bet He is looking down at us the same way we look at any kids in our lives who are trying to do things themselves when you know if they just asked for help, you could do it so much quicker.

Sometimes, kids need to do something themselves so that they learn how to do it. Other times, they need to do something themselves so they can learn a lesson. We are the same. No matter how old we get, we are never too old to learn a lesson. God will allow us to learn the same lesson as many times as it takes for us to truly learn it. He will allow us to solve our problems on our own if that is what we want. I am sure it breaks His heart to see us wearing ourselves out doing everything ourselves when He knows if we just partnered with Him, it would be so much easier. Yet, He loves and respects us enough to let us decide when we invite Him in and when we want to partner with Him. The best news, it is never too late. You might be 20 years old, and you might be 80 years old. It is never too late to invite the Lord in and watch your life changee.

I don’t think I answered the questions from earlier or talked about the verse too much; I guess the Holy Spirit had a different idea this morning. However, I do want to look at the verse a bit more because I think that will help answer the questions. “And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” The verse says that hope will not lead to disappointment because we know how much God loves us because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love. The message translations said, “And this hope is not a disappointing fantasy because we can now experience the endless love of God cascading into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who lives in us!”

Did you know the Holy Spirit lives inside of you? If you have been listening to this podcast for a while, you probably know that, as I say it often. However, if you didn’t know this, it is true! Maybe you did know that already, and yet you don’t really know what that means. It means that the spirit of Christ lives inside of you. It means that all of that power that Jesus had when He lived on earth, the power He used to do all His miracles, that lives inside of you. It means the Holy Spirit, the one that raised Jesus from the dead, lives inside of you! Did you know you had so much power living inside of you? Guess what else you have? According to the Passion Translation, you have the endless love of God cascading into your hearts through the Holy Spirit that lives in you! The other translation says that the Lord has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.

We have power and love filling our hearts because of the Holy Spirit that lives inside of us. Isn’t God remarkable? This is why hope in the Lord does not disappoint. It is because He is constantly filling our hearts with love. This verse does not mean that we will never be disappointed, we will, probably often. However, it means that if we hope in the Lord, He will come through for us. Maybe not in the way we wanted Him to, but whatever we are going through, He will use it for our good. I have heard this in many songs, and it has brought me comfort. I hope it will bring you comfort too. If you are struggling, if you are in a dark place right now, if all seems lost, then know God is not done with you yet. He allows us to go through trials, but He never leaves us there, and He never leaves our side while we are in them. If your life is not as you want it to be, if it is not as you had hoped it would be, then God is not done yet. Keep turning to Him, keep inviting Him in, and then watch as He transforms your life. Expect it; be on the lookout for amazing things, and you will find them!

Dear Heavenly Father, wow, I wasn’t expecting all that today. Please bless all those listening to this episode. Please help us to really hear what you said today and to allow it to take root in our lives and bear fruit. Help us to better understand what it means to have the Holy Spirit living inside of us. Help us to gain a better understanding of what it means to believe that hope in you does not disappoint.  Help us to turn to you instead of the world when we need answers. Help us to invite you in today, instead of going through one more day on our own. Help us to surrender, Lord. Help us to accept your love. We love you, Lord, and we ask this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I pray something I said today touched your heart and helped you to see things in a new light. I want to invite you all to join me in January for mentoring. It is on Tuesday nights at 8 PM EST on Zoom. I know some of you are far away, and 8 PM EST is the middle of the night for you. If this is the case, you could still join mentoring and watch the recording. I promise you will still get a lot out of it. January’s theme is Identity, which we all seem to struggle with. I hope you will consider joining me. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day.

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in June 2024 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “I felt like the Lord was reassuring me that all I've asked for, especially because I was having a little struggle with ministry and ministering and stuff last night, all I've asked for, he's not going to give me a stone. His love is there.”